The use of wheeled dollies and trucks having lifting assemblies and structures for maneuvering or positioning vehicles in interior spaces of garages, warehouses and the like is known.
Elam in U.S. Pat. No. 5,732,960 discloses a dolly for lifting and transporting an automobile. The dolly has a generally U-shaped frame with a pair of arms attached to a base member at right angles. The arm assemblies engage the wheel assembly of the automobile to lift and transport the automobile. Casters secured to the arms allow movement of the dolly over a ground surface.
Barosko in U.S. Pat. No. 3,145,859 discloses a truck for picking up and transporting heavy wheel and tire assemblies having generally horizontal load bearing arms. A hydraulic jack is actuated to raise the arms.
Carruthers in U.S. Pat. No. 2,380,415 discloses a wheel and tire lift having a pair of plates joined with telescoping tubes. A screw shaft extending through the tubes is rotated to pull the tubes together. Each plate carries an arcuate-shaped rockable cradle having rollers that can be set under the wheel.
Baum in U.S. Pat. No. 2,362,981 discloses an airplane lift dolly having a frame having shoes that fit under the sides of the tire. Shoe is adapted to move inwardly and upwardly in a scooping motion to lift the wheel. Shoe has a plurality of rollers to avoid sliding friction between the shoe and tire as the tire is scooped up.
Safety is a concern when using trucks and dollies to lift, support and transport vehicles which are relatively heavy objects having weights producing a large amount of inertia. It is essential to have dependable, safe and automatic lifting and locking structure to avoid damage to the motor vehicle or personal injury.